A Small, but Very special, needle case
Years ago my mother bought this amazing circular needle, shuttle and bobbin display case at an antique shop. I wasn’t with her when she purchased it but I remember coming home from university (I think that’s about right for time frame…) and finding it so interesting. The fact that it spins around and the dial in the middle shows you what will appear when the door is opened is so much fun!
Boye Needle was founded in Chicago in 1906 when James H. Boye and two businessmen from the sewing machine business joined forces. The company was launched with a patented, revolving cabinet called the “Rotary Case.” This case, which is what you see in the photos above and below. It was a storage case for sewing machine needles, shuttles and bobbins suitable for a variety of home sewing machines. At the time of their founding, consumers had difficulty finding the correct needles and replacement parts for their sewing machines so this was a great innovation.
The Rotary Case was very successful and the revenue supported Boye’s expansion into sewing machine parts and accessories. In 1917, Boye introduced the first complete line of crochet hooks made in America. Through years of development, Boye became recognized as the premier supplier of crochet hooks and knitting needles. Today, the Boye brand is part of the larger company, Creative Simple Solutions Industries, and continues to create innovative products.
Inside the case itself were - and still are - wooden cases for bobbins, shuttles and needles. Most of the cases still contain all or some of their original contents. They are numbered and labeled so the shop keeper could be sure what the customer asked for is what the customer received.
For more information about how the case works, there is a wonderful article here on needlebar.org.
In the past I’ve used my needlebook to store my needles and it has worked fine…until a project I started recently. I’m working on a very large Or Nué piece that’s going to take a long time to finish. I’m using #10 needles for the project and many, many different colors of silk thread. This means I need to have a large supply of #10 needles handy. So, I thought, I’ll ask my brother if there were any empty needle cases left inside the Boye case that I could have to store and have handy all the #10 needles I would be needing..
He and my great-nephew looked together for those empty cases. My great-nephew, who is in second grade, spent a happy few minutes spinning, opening and searching for empty cases and found six for me to have!
“Worn shuttle skins and breaks thread. Buy a new one from the Merchant who sold this tube.”
It’s so special for me to have a few of these in which to store my needles. My Mom was always so proud of my embroidery and, even though she purchased the needle case years before I became an embroiderer, she would be so pleased that I’m using these little cases now. Best of all, I think of her every time I get out a new needle.